Mr. Speaker, unlike the Liberal Party, this government will continue to put the rights of victims over those of criminals. We are proud of the progress that we have made in giving victims both a greater voice and greater access to services. We will continue to correct the failed Liberal record. Our opposition to the long gun registry is clear. We know that criminalizing farmers and duck hunters does not increase public safety, nor does it protect victims.

Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister really cared about women's well-being, he would not have ousted the RCMP Chief Superintendent, Marty Cheliak, and he would not ignore the opinion of police officers, nurses, women's groups and his own victims' ombudsman.

Last spring, the Prime Minister engaged in divisive politics at African women's expense. Today, he is doing the same thing at Canadian women's expense. Why?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal leader has whipped his members to support the wasteful and ineffective long gun registry by promising to implement unconstitutional amendments to Bill C-391.

We hope that the Liberals who voted for Bill C-391 will not deceive their constituents by changing their votes merely to satisfy the Liberal leader. Think of the victims. Don't think of the agenda of the Liberal leader.

Mr. Speaker, they speak of victims' rights. Yet yesterday, Sue O'Sullivan, the Prime Minister's appointed victims ombudsman, said that “the majority of victims' groups [they] have spoken to have made it clear: Canada should maintain its long gun registry”.

It is the same message we have heard from victims, police, nurses, and women's groups.

Why can the Conservatives not work with them to improve the registry, to make it less burdensome for honest farmers and hunters, yet still a useful tool for fighting crime?

Mr. Speaker, to think that member would even speak about protecting victims, after that member stood up and gutted Bill C-9 on the issue of conditional sentences. Apparently, she would rather see criminals out on the street than behind bars. As for protecting law-abiding citizens, we have nothing to answer to that member for. We do not support the wasteful long gun registry. We support measures that protect victims.

Let me be clear. While we support the licensing of people and the registration of prohibited and restricted weapons, we do not support the wasteful long gun registry. We support initiatives that in fact target violent, dangerous criminals who prey upon innocent people. The member should reflect upon her record of gutting effective legislation in this House, as should the Liberal caucus .

Mr. Speaker, the decision facing MPs on the long gun registry is crystal clear. MPs can either support the wasteful and ineffective long gun registry or vote to scrap it.

The member for Churchill has stated, “A lot of people in northern Manitoba feel the gun registry does not work for us”.

Could the Minister of Public Safety update this House on the long gun registry and why it is important that all members of Parliament, including the member for Churchill, vote with their constituents on this issue?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for this question and for his efforts on this file.

The hard-working, law-abiding gun owners of Manitoba and Canada know that the long gun registry does not work. I would call upon the member for Churchill to stand in this House and, instead of voting with her downtown Toronto leader, represent her constituents in rural Manitoba, as her father does in the Manitoba legislature, where he has consistently spoken out against the long gun registry, together with the NDP in that province who do not support the long gun registry.

Mr. Speaker, today is the first day of fall, which means that colder temperatures are around the corner. That is bad news for people in northern Ontario. This year, their heating bills will go up by 8% because the Conservative government's HST will now apply to heating. This sends a chill up our spines.

Will the Minister of Finance work with the NDP and ask Ontario to withdraw its application of the HST to basic needs such as heating and gasoline?

Mr. Speaker, winter is coming fast and the senior citizens of northern Ontario are now having to pay HST on their outrageous fuel costs, thanks to this government. Day after day, I meet seniors who are falling below the poverty line, seniors who cannot afford to live in their homes, seniors who are travelling hundreds of kilometres to get medical treatment because there are no local doctors. This government has turned its back on rural Canadians.

I would like to ask the minister why he is blowing billions of dollars on prisons and fighter jets while telling the seniors of northern Canada that the cupboard is bare.

Mr. Speaker, I think people in the member's constituency will rightly see this for what it is, an attempt to change the channel.

I have a brochure that the member put out, a householder he sent to his constituents, "Fighting for the North - Working for you”. In it he says, “Promise made: promise kept. [MP] fulfills commitment to vote down the long gun registry”.

The member has a chance. He can stand with his constituents. He can stand with his principles and he can do the right thing at 5:30 today.

Mr. Speaker, the largest military contract in Canadian history, the F-35 fighter jet contract, will not be subject to the industrial and regional benefits policy. That is unprecedented. The Conservative government has given up and seems unable to defend the interests of the aerospace industry, which is primarily located in Quebec.

Why is the Conservative government asking taxpayers to foot the $16 billion bill without ensuring that the Canadian and Quebec aerospace industry receives its fair share of contracts?

Mr. Speaker, by purchasing the new F-35 jets, we have gone with the best aircraft on the market. For such military bases as Cold Lake and Bagotville, it is an important acquisition that represents a long-term future for these two bases.

Furthermore, it will create jobs and have economic spinoffs across the country, and for companies in the aerospace industry as well. It is a good decision by our government and it will create jobs.